Guitar Hero/Rock Band controllers: much difference?

[Scooter]

My wife owes me pretty big for my upcoming birthday which is just after Christmas. I don't have a burning desire to have a GH/RB kind of game, but it might be fun to have one around and I might get her to play along with me if I have such a game.

There are a gazillion guitar controllers, is there really much difference between the $25 React one and the $55 Big Head one or any of the others? Does it make the most sense to just buy the game/guitar package and call it good?

I'm middle aged and don't have a good sense for much guitar rock of at least the past decade, but Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero World Tour seem to have quite a bit of good music even I can relate too. Any other suggestions? When I played Rock Band at my friend's house, we had to slog though some newer songs I absolutely had never heard of even though there were quite a few songs I not only knew but really enjoyed. BTW, I was in high school in the 1970s and college in the 1980s so that's the era of rock with which I'm more familiar.

[Lanfear]

The official guitar controllers are usually the best, though some of the 3rd party ones aren't bad. I would check out the reviews on Amazon of the controller your thinking of picking up.

I prefer the Guitar Hero controller to the Rock Band one . Mostly because of the clickiness of the strum bar. The Rock band one just feels sticky.

As far as game choice, it looks like Guitar Hero is a better fit for you.

[noiseredux]

I never had any interest in GH, but my wife kept mentioning that she thought it looked fun (and she never seems interested in games) so we finally decided to pick it up on sale. We grabbed GHIII with the guitar in a set, and it's a lot of fun. It's definitely the game that she's had the most fun with (and the learning curve is pretty easy for non-gamers to get hold of). I'd recommend this as a way to at least bond with yr wife over a game. It's a good time. (by the way I realize I didnt answer yr question AT ALL).

[ubelaffe]

the third party accessories I've played with have all been terrible. Stick with the stock stuff.

[Scooter]

The last game I got my wife to play was Ecco the Dolphin! She did have a blast with Wii Sports when we played doubles tennis at a friend's house and she had some interest in playing guitar in high school. She is musical (flute player) and hobbies which require dexterity (quilting, cooking/baking) so the game might just click for her too. I don't think the typical music in the game is her style though, she's more Dan Fogleberg and the Bee Gees than Steve Miller or Aerosmith.

Well, bottom line, I'd probably have fun with the game! GHIII or World Tour both look appealing.

Can the PS2 support the whole band or at least 2 players at the same time?

[Scooter]

Actually, the more I dig into this it looks like the Aerosmith version is more my style. I can even get a bundle with two guitars that isn't all that expensive.

[countcowden]

Rock band or Guitar Hero World Tour - its better to have the drums as well than just the guitars. I prefer rock band myself but I dont think theres much too choose between them.

As for songs that you might like then its probably a good way to decide but dont forget to check out the download content as well as you'll plough through the songs on the disc quicker than you think. Not sure if you can download content on the band specific discs like the aerosmith bundle or the acdc bundle.

The best thing about the game in general as noted as it allows you to spend more time with the better half and the console so its a winner all round.